As No. 17 Florida (8-4, 6-2 SEC) prepares for a Jan. 2 matchup with Iowa (8-4, 6-3 Big Ten) in the Outback Bowl in Tampa, the Gators will try to avoid ending the year once again on a three-game skid.
The memories of last year’s bowl loss – a 41-7 defeat at the hands of Michigan – are still fresh on plenty of Gators’ minds, including head coach Jim McElwain. He expressed that in a meeting with the team Sunday before leaving for the road for a recruiting trip.
“Speaking personally, I was embarrassed,” McElwain said Sunday during his time on the Outback Bowl teleconference. “And yet, you know what, it happens. It happens at a lot of programs. But this is one that they’ve got to understand we’re representing the Gators and that’s different. I felt that in today’s meeting.
“That’s why you go play the game. You don’t go for a participation ribbon. I’m not sure a year ago that we didn’t have some guys in there looking for a participation ribbon. But that’s the clear message, and this is a different team. I really like this football team. They’ve committed to a higher standard and they’re excited to get back to work.”
As far as the Gators, they’ll have a week off from full-contact practices for body recovery while members of the coaching staff are on the recruiting trail. After wrapping up finals early the following week, they will dive into the bowl practice schedule.
“It’s an opportunity for you to get some of those young guys, who have been doing a great job, to get them prepared as we move forward as a program,” McElwain said. “These 15 days that you get to practice really help your program. When you’re not able to do that, it actually sets back your program back a little bit.
Entering this matchup with Iowa, they should be healthier, too.
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“We should have a core group of those guys back,” McElwain said of the Gators currently dealing with injuries. “We should be back in being able to put close to a full squad out there.”
One Gator whose status is questionable for the bowl game is quarterback Luke Del Rio (shoulder), who has been sidelined for Florida’s past four games since suffering his injury at Arkansas. In his absence, Austin Appleby has served as Florida’s starter – and the Gators have a big decision to make at quarterback for the Outback Bowl.
“I’ve been pretty open about how I made a mistake putting him out there in the Arkansas game, you know, not realizing how bad it was,” McElwain said. “It’s obviously getting better, but that’s still to be determined.”
As far as Appleby, who went 0-3 at Purdue against Iowa (two times as a backup and once as a starter), his experience against the Hawkeyes could prove to be helpful for the Gators.
“When we found out, all the guys actually looked at Austin — you know, ‘You’re the one thats got to tell us what this is all about,'” McElwain said. “No, I think that’s one of those things where I think for him, some familiarity, he’s a smart guy now, and he’ll glean back on the some of the scouting reports and things that they did. And he’ll be able to help us as well, and he’ll be excited to play again against them.”
McElwain also had praise to deliver to Kirk Ferentz, Iowa quarterback C.J. Beathard and the 8-4 Hawkeyes team, which has beaten Michigan and Nebraska in two of its past three games.
“He does some great things with the personnel that he has,” McElwain said of Ferentz. “He’s got a senior quarterback that I think is playing really good. Obviously, his fingerprints are all over it. Those guys are doing a really good job.”
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